Facebook is an interesting social media playground, especially for DJs. It is a powerful tool for advertising our services and getting noticed by potential customers. However, I see faux pas every day from DJs who are really not helping their brand. Believe it or not, everything we put into the social media universe can either help or damage our brand. If you don’t believe me, or if you don’t think Facebook can help get you more bookings and more business, then this article is for you.

People want the services you provide, and that includes the people in your expanded social circle, your friends of friends. Have you ever been tagged by a friend in a Facebook thread where the status said something to the effect of: “Help, I am planning a special event and need recommendations for a DJ.” If you have, that means your friends trust you and your brand. If you haven’t, keep reading!

This happens to me all the time and I’m always interested to see who else has been tagged in the thread. When I see fellow professional DJs in my market, I know I am in good company. However, when I see names that I don’t recognise, click on their profile and find no indication whatsoever that points to them being a DJ, I really despair! Why should a client trust you to DJ their special event if you aren’t seen to be taking your DJ career seriously? If you want to be considered an authority, as a professional in your market, it’s time to level up your Facebook profile!

Step number one: your profile picture. People want to work with a real person not a picture of your favourite sports team or kids. I get it, your kids are cute, they are important to you! Put a family photo as your cover if you really have to, but your profile picture should be you, as you are your brand. Also make sure your profile picture is current. You’re really not doing yourself any favours if your profile picture is so out of date that it looks nothing like you today! Ask the photographer at your next event to take a photo of you in action. You can then tag them and their business when you post it for a win/win. Here’s the other thing, it is not essential that you are wearing headphones or doing an epic DJ pose in the photo! A picture that highlights your personality and style will attract potential clients who are friends of friends to enquire with you. Also, a great cover photo of your setup or an epic crowd shot would be great. We know how DJs love to show off their setups and this is a great way to showcase that.

Step two: link your profile to your Facebook business page. If you don’t have one, get one! I’ve come across far too many DJs with dead links on their profiles, but this is the first thing a prospective client will click if they find you on Facebook and are interested in booking your services. If you are a legitimate business owner then create a business page. Having a Facebook business page says, “I’m serious and I’m open for business”. Creating a business page isn’t that hard to do and posting just once a week will be enough to make sure it always looks ‘active’ when prospects visit. The next important step is to encourage past clients to add reviews to your page, as this will give you credibility when would-be customers visit. Finally, in your intro I’d recommend listing your website and even including a call to action. This is what mine says: "MC, DJ, Host and Speaker for your next corporate, wedding or private event. Robferre.com”.

Step three: post photos or videos on your newsfeed. Even if you are a private person, make your photos and videos public! I understand that there may be some personal things that you don’t want everybody to see, but share your DJ-related images publicly on your wall. You need someone who is not your friend to be able to see them if someone recommends you. To my friends who do see my feed, I like to regularly post things about my business to remind them, “Hey I do this for a living and I love it, tell your friends!” But obviously I don’t say it in so many words. Something along the lines of, “I’m so lucky to be a part of people’s greatest celebrations in life”, gets the message across in a more subtle way. The majority of my posts on Facebook are related to what I do for a living, my family and my passions. I like to stay well-rounded and not to become annoying, so I put out things from my life that I think my friends will find interesting and won’t add to the ‘noise’ of Facebook. I also limit my posts to once a day. When I post something it’s usually important and so I get more eyeballs on it. Be decisive and strategic with your posts. According to Fast Company, the best window for sharing on Facebook is between 1pm and 4pm, while the peak time is Wednesdays at 3pm and the worst time to post is after 8pm on weekends. However, Huffington Post says that Thursday and Friday are the best days to post on Facebook, while Monday and Wednesday get the lowest engagement rates, so my advice is to mix things up and post at different times and on different days.

Step four: refrain from obnoxious politically-driven posts and political attacks in threads. There are a lot of DJs I have unfollowed because they add nothing useful to my newsfeed. I like to follow fellow DJs but some are just abhorrent! They post antagonistic memes, political rants, or just way too often with content that has no redeeming social value. I understand if you are passionate about politics, and if you are an activist more power to you, but I think in the history of Facebook someone’s political views have never been changed because someone else insulted their way of thinking in a thread! Politics are very divisive and it just gets worse on Facebook but rarely, if ever, do I debate about politics in person with another DJ. When I see them in person the conversations are about our business, family and the commonalities that bind us. At the next Pro Mobile Conference are you planning on striking up a conversation with your views about Brexit? I doubt it. The same should apply to Facebook. If you rant about politics, you run the risk of potential clients looking at your feed and thinking, “Oh this guy only cares about debating politics and has the opposite views to me. I’ll keep my distance.” Beware of scaring away potential clients with political posting!

Step five: don’t be a jerk, tool, prat, ****... Whatever your word for it is, I don’t care, just don’t be one. There are too many DJs that go on to Facebook groups and beat their chests because they have to be right. They demean other DJs, and even potential clients, in threads, which is quite counterproductive. Why does this matter to me? Well, I can’t do every job that comes my way. I like to refer and collaborate with other DJs in my market. If you just happen to be an online t**t, I’m sorry, I’ll keep my distance. I imagine a lot of us have the same goal: keeping our calendars full. So let’s help each other accomplish that. Keeping proper social decorum on Facebook will keep you in everybody’s good graces and increase the likelihood that referrals from fellow DJs will come your way.

So, with these fives steps, I hope you can start leveraging Facebook to get more business. This is a community that needs to raise the bar and work together to be better and do better. I know we can, let’s just shift how we use Facebook to help our bottom line and brand. Cheers!